Tech

Android Wear First Look: Samsung and LG Put Alerts on Your Wrist

Android Wear is here. When Google first unveiled its wearable platform in May, the products looked impressive, but they hadn't been seen in the wild. At Google I/O 2014, the first Android Wear devices, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, are out and proud.

The G Watch and Gear Live are very similar. Before they're officially on sale, the samples here at the show will only run in "retail" mode, meaning they only show sample notifications from Android Wear. At least they're interactive — you can swipe and tap on them, but I couldn't dive that deep.

The watch faces are slightly different — the Gear Live has hints of silver trim while the G Watch goes with basic black — but they both have the same rectangular shape, and the screens are virtually the same size (a 1.65-inch square for the G Watch and 1.63-inch for the Gear Live).

The screens may be the same size, and even look the same, but there's different tech under the hood. Samsung's is a SuperAMOLED screen, like the company's phones, and LG opted for an IPS (in-plane switching) LCD. Both looked great to me.

Android Wear First Look

Samsung Gear Live

The Samsung Gear Live is one of the first devices to run Android Wear, Google's new smartwatch platform.

LG G Watch

The LG G Watch is very similar to the Gear Live, although it uses different screen technology -- LCD instead of AMOLED.

Paired With Phone

The two watches aren't standalone devices; they need to be paired with a smartphone.

Notification Hub

Android Wear is all about bringing glanceable notifications to your wrist. Here's a message from Google Hangouts.

Actions

Swiping to the side of a notification reveals more information or actions you can take.

Weather

In the case of a weather app, swiping to the left shows the forecast.

Compared With Sony Smartwatch 2

Here's how the weather looks different on an Android Wear device vs. the Sony Smartwatch 2, which uses more of a traditional weather app.

Voice Activation

Say "O.K., Google," and an Android Wear device will take voice commands, such as setting a reminder.

G Watch Backside

The back of the G Watch shows the metal connects where you charge it.

Gear Live Backside

The back of the Gear Live reveals the heart-rate monitor -- a staple of Samsung smartwatches.

Android Wear is a different take on the smartwatch than we've seen so far. It's almost entirely focused on notifications — which is a good thing — with different kinds of alerts showing up as Google Now-style "cards" that you can scroll through, up and down.

Swiping to the side lets you perform other actions, depending on the card. For example, the weather card shows you current conditions, but a swipe will show you the forecast. Swiping a Hangout message will let you reply.

Android Wear's whole card paradigm is a stark contrast to other smartwatches like the Samsung Gear 2 and Sony Smartwatch 2, which tend to favor traditional app icons to activate certain functions. Android Wear makes more sense for a small screen — it's easier to gesture than to precisely tap on a tiny icon — but I suspect finding specific features might be more challenging.

Both of the smartwatches are listening to you. Say "O.K., Google," and the watch will accept verbal commands. Set reminders, reply to messages and more. The speech recognition is about as good as Google Glass, which is to say great. When I told the G Watch to remind me to pick up my dry cleaning, it got everything right except the time. Not bad.

Android Wear's "cards" are similar to those in Google Now.

Image: Mashable, Pete Pachal

Apart from the minor differences in design and the displays, the G Watch and Gear Live provide a near-identical experience. That's probably because they were both in the in-store retail mode, but also because Android Wear is brand new and neither brand has had a chance to really crack it open much yet. I expect the interfaces to add more variety and differentiators as time goes on.

As for Android Wear itself, Google is on the right track by centering it around notifications. I would say 90% of the purpose of a smartwatch is to provide convenient, "glanceable" updates. LG and Samsung appear laser-focused on that purpose — there's virtually no mention of things like fitness or music playback.

As long as the alerts are useful, in context, and not annoying, Google's smartwatch platform will have a bright future. We'll reserve judgment until we can use the watches out of demo mode, but Android Wear adds some needed brains to the category.

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